More CPC fallout (and a plea for a politics forum)

[ollie]

Great quotation from Garth Turner on his blog after he was rebuked for suggesting in caucus that David Emerson run in a by-election:

Speaking of offices, after today I’m expecting the Whip will be assigning me a renovated washroom somewhere in a forgotten corner of a vermin-infested dank basement in Ottawa. That should go well with my seat in the House of Commons that will be visible only during lunar eclipses.

And more brilliant decision making by our Prime Minister:

New parliamentary secretary to Francophonie can't speak French

Francophone groups and opposition MPs are raising concerns about an appointment in Stephen Harper's government after learning the parliametary secretary for la Francophonie doesn't speak French.

Please give us a politics forum!! There is so much going on right now!

[SmoothedShredder]

Yikes... it could be two strikes and yer out. Way to pick up the ball and run with it Steve. Listen to Garth Turner.

[Birdy]

Why didn't the liberals cry out over the Belinda Stronach party swap?

"I choose principle". Sure you do.

[Alexis]

emerson SHOULD give that money back that the libs gave him to run. i think based on precident, he shouldn't have to run again. ethically is another story. if you leave mid term, yeah ok whatever, but RIGHT after an election? you don't get to switch sides because you picked the team that lost. and i never want to hear the cons bitch about someone turning tail and switching, or the libs "enticing" members of their party to leave.

as far as this whole anglophone guy...isn't it the ministry of official languages? since when does that mean ministry of the french language? i bilingual quebecor is the minister. who cares who the secretary is? the guys has learned a bit of french, and is going to learn more. it's called on the job training. a BUNCH of all of us have received this. we have 2 languages...not 1. i dont see an issue with this, at all.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Why didn't the liberals cry out over the Belinda Stronach party swap?

There was a great bit on The Current on CBC this week about the language used in the news reports around both Stronach and Emerson (his name now makes me think of cheap stereos) and their respective defections. No surprise - Stronach gets painted like a cheap sultry tramp, while Emerson comes off looking like an astute, pragmatic businessman.

Pretty sad commentary, really.

[ollie]

Why didn't the liberals cry out over the Belinda Stronach party swap?

"I choose principle". Sure you do.

I dunno. Maybe some of them did. But the Conservatives kind of ran their campaign on the idea of integrity.

[Birdy]

well i think belinda's painting as a cheap sultry tramp has more to do with how she burned peter mackay than her switching to the liberals.

as for running campaigns based on the idea of integrity, isn't that everyone's main goal? the conservatives just spinned it in face of recent liberal shadiness.

[secondtube]

at least the CPC is assuring themselves (and the rest of the country) that it is indeed true...

Conservatives get voted in every once in a while...but they never last.

and wont again.

Edited February 11, 2006 by Guest

[bouche]

Take your political talk elsewher!

(to the new political forum here that is)

spread the word!

[SmoothedShredder]

Here's some more questions:

How many more liberal members are ready to jump ship?

Isn't the Emerson thing all within the rules? The tone of the opposition has been, "This case stinks, but we don't want to close the door to people crossing the floor to our party."

But for what it's worth, there definately needs to be some clarification/improvemnts to the rules. Because this is Federal Politics, many people vote along partylines to support a Partys Federal agenda's and vision. When you vote for a Candidate their party is a big issue, so it would be hard for a constituancy not to feel tricked, and lose faith in democracy. This is conterintuitive to a healthy democracy and therefore not good. When something is not good for democracy, the government should work to eliminate or minimize it's influence. What bad would a by-election do when cases like these arise? It's not just about integrety, it's about leadership because this shit is in the rules, and it takes courage to stand up to change them especailly if you stand something to gain as a small entity in a larger group of entities by the status quo. Could you imagine if Casino's worked even harder to ensure you had the most even/true odds... this is the position parliament is in with party politics. Harper's so far dropped the ball on it, and I can already see the 2011 headlines when they grill Pete McKay on working to shore up these issues under his leadership and accuse him for doing it because of Belinda... The paragraph on Emerson will either immediately follow, or not make the edit.

[SmoothedShredder]

Take your political talk elsewher!

(to the new political forum here that is)

spread the word!

Thanks great Intranet Czar. May your long rule continue!

[d_rawk]

Take your political talk elsewher!

(to the new political forum here that is)

spread the word!

You trying to get rid of us??

But seriously, what SmoothedShredder said. We were ending up with these huge threads with hundreds of posts because it seemed more appropriate to start discussion in the last politics related thread rather than swamp the board in a bunch of individual ones. This will help. The only problem is that I never think to check any forums other than the Cavern.

Just have to get better at that, I guess.

[SmoothedShredder]

Rich Stadium and Gamehenge have warmed me up... prety soon I'll be planning tours to catch all the stuff in the west coast, and reading the news.

[payce-ley]

New parliamentary secretary to Francophonie can't speak French

sorry, that does seem pretty ridiculous

Overview of La Francophonie:

La Francophonie is a cultural and linguistic community of more than 170 million people. These people use French to varying degrees in their daily lives. La Francophonie is also an institutional community of 56 states and governments on five continents. These states and governments have signed La Francophonie’s Charter.

I guess he can use a translator a lot of the time, but they couldn't find one suitable french speaking candidate in all of Canada?

as for Emerson, no worries. good riddence dude.

but yeah, that cash should be re-paid to the liberals, simply out of personal conscience. If someone funds me to do one thing then I change my mind and do something directly opposite the intent of my funding thats wrong.

Edited February 11, 2006 by Guest

[Blane]

Overview of La Francophonie:

La Francophonie is a cultural and linguistic community of more than 170 million people. These people use French to varying degrees in their daily lives. La Francophonie is also an institutional community of 56 states and governments on five continents. These states and governments have signed La Francophonie’s Charter.

I find it absolutely outrageous and a complete (intentional?) slap in the face to francophone canada that they put a unilingual anglophone in this post. Maybe it's just the time spent in Quebec rubbing off on me, but to me this sends the message "we don't see anything distinct or important about la francophonie canadienne". Ask this guy what the difference between "lardons" and "crotons" is and he'll give you a blank stare. NOt only does it look bad at a national level, but it will look bad to the international francophone community, to whom Canada is often seen as a major trendsetter (no lie, even to the French). Pisses me off.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

This is about as powerful a comment about things to come as we're likely to get (before the rest of it comes). Unbelievable. We expect these people to listen to us (as a diverse country) unless we say what they're already prepared to hear it?